TOP: Winslow’s Austin Tsosie, left, and his teammate, Boyd Chatwin, sprint to the finish line of the Holbrook Invitational on Oct. 25.

BOTTOM: A Window Rock runner leads a pack of runners during the Holbrook Invitational at the Hidden Cove Golf Course on Oct. 25

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With a bevy of top runners it wasn't easy to project Ganado sophomore Daangoiina Haven as the overall girls winner at the Holbrook Invitational on Oct. 25.

In fact, for a good part of the race she trailed most of the frontrunners at the Hidden Cove Golf Course. But down the homestretch she finished the 3.1-mile course strong and emerged as one of the heavy favorites to win this weekend's sectional meet.

"I wanted to keep a good pace but I didn't want to get too far from the front pack," Haven said when asked about her strategy entering the race. "I stayed with them and when they started to slow down I was feeling more confident so I picked up my pace."

Haven finished the race with a time of 19:53 and beat second-place finisher Valentina Nyhart of Flagstaff Northland Prep by 32 seconds.

For that second-place finish, Nyhart was tested as she outkicked Ganado sophomore Nikesha Eagleman by four seconds.

"After I took the lead I was afraid that I might lose it," Haven conceded. "The last time I did that my dad said I gave up a big lead so this time I wanted to make sure I picked it up."

In the boy's race, Albert Fuller of Tuba City was equally impressive as the sophomore earned his first victory of the season. Fuller finished the race with a time of 16:58.

The attention-grabber, however, for this race was the impressive pack time of 29 seconds turned in by the Tuba City squad.

As a team, the Warriors finished in first place with a score of 17 points, which was two points shy of a perfect score.

""We are improving every week," Tuba City coach Arvis Myron said. "We wanted to try to get the boys to run as a pack and that was what they did. We're also bringing up some boys to the varsity level so that's made a difference. They are working very hard and it's showing in their races."

Despite their impressive finish, Myron said they still need work to do as they prepare for the sectional and state meet.

"From what I see it's going to take all seven runners to pull out the victory," he said.

Holbrook Invitational results

Holbrook, Ariz. - The results for the Holbrook Invitational held at the Hidden Cove Golf Course on Oct. 25 are as follows:

Boys

Team score

1. Tuba City, 17.

2. Hopi, 91.

3. Chinle, 124.

4. Winslow, 135.

5. Holbrook, 180.

6. Window Rock, 238.

7. Many Farms, 251.

8. Pinon, 256.

9. Ganado, 275.

10. Flagstaff, 279.

11. Northland Prep, 338.

12. Blue Ridge, 344.

13. Alchesay, 352.

14. Monument Valley, 361.

15. Sedona Red Rock, 362.

16. Scottsdale Prep, 398.

17. Morenci, 405.

18. Show Low, 426.

19. Chino Valley, 434.

20. Valley 542.

Individually

1. Albert Fuller, Tuba City, 16:58.

2. Vaughn Jackson, Tuba City, 17:10.1

3. Anthony Masayesva, Tuba City, 17:10.3.

4. Brian Masayesva, Tuba City, 17:10.5.

5. Anfernee Howard, Hopi, 17:19.

6. Jonathan Hall, Northland Prep, 17:23.

7. Eddie Loughran, Tuba City, 17:27.

8. Terry Honventewa, Hopi, 17:29.

9. Kevin Decker, Winslow, 17:39.

10. Kyle Sumatzkuku, Tuba City, 17:44.

11. Christian Begody, Tuba City, 17:45.

12. Leighton Quintana, Window Rock, 17:46.

13. Keilan Poleahla, Hopi, 17:52.

14. Zhariff Lee, Many Farms, 17:53.

15. Ashton Mike, Chinle, 18:01.

16. Darrin Cly, Chinle, 18:03.

17. Adriano Joe, Pinon, 18:04.

18. Michael Shirley, Chinle, 18:07.

19. Mark Clark, Holbrook, 18:08.

20. Jeremy Tsosie, Ganado, 18:12.

21. Mitchell Howe, Red-Valley Cove, 18:15.

22. Doug Martel, Blue Ridge, 18:16.

23. Milland Thomas, Winslow, 18:17.

24. Kenny Harold, Blue Ridge, 18:18.

25. Hayden Shelly, Scottsdale Prep, 18:19.

26. Kyle Chee, Holbrook, 18:20.

27. Leslee Begay, Pinon, 18:21.

28. Nehko Edwards, Alchesay, 18:22.

29. Austin Tsosie, Winslow, 18:24.0.

30. Boyd Chatwin, Winslow, 18:24.3.

31. Seville Salazar, Hopi, 18:25.1.

32. Triston Zahne, Holbrook, 18:25.5.

33. Dexter Claw, Window Rock, 18:26.

34. Dominick Wilson, Many Farms, 18:29.

35. Travis Okie, Sedona Red Rock, 18:32.

36. Leo Peacock, Red-Valley Cove, 18:34.

37. Slim Jackson, Hopi, 18:35.

38. Collins Denetdeel, Chinle, 18:37.

39. Gary Clark, Monument Valley, 18:38.

40. Bruce Ashley, Ganado, 18:40.0.

41. Laurence Draper, Chinle, 18:40.5.

42. Marcos Clark, Holbrook, 18:41.0.

43. Kevin Alvarez, Sedona Red Rock, 18:41.4.

44. Vaughn Yazzie, Ganado, 18:42.2.

45. Shane Charley, Flagstaff, 18:42.5.

46. Israel Chavez, Morenci, 18:44.

47. Collin Frank, Chinle, 18:45.3.

48. Sean Sloan, Hopi, 18:45.9.

49. Kordell McReeves, Winslow, 18:46.

50. Luke Doerner, Sedona Red Rock, 18:56.

Girls

Team score

1. Scottsdale Prep, 87.

2. Hopi, 109.

3. Northland Prep, 109.

4. Ganado, 123.

5. Tuba City, 124.

6. Monument Valley, 143.

7. Flagstaff, 162.

8. Window Rock, 169.

9. Chinle, 197.

10. Sedona Red Rock, 245.

11. Winslow, 280.

12. Chino Valley, 325.

13. Alchesay 363.

14. Blue Ridge, 364.

15. Holbrook, 432.

16. Valley, 470.

Individually

1. Daangoiina Haven, Ganado, 19:53.

2. Valentina Nyhart, Northland Prep, 20:25.

3. Nikesha Eagleman, Ganado, 20:29.

4. Charlotte Moore, Scottsdale Prep, 20:40.

5. Tamarie Tracey, Chinle, 20:48.

6. Shayla Tate, Monuement Valley, 20:53.

7. Natalie Cox, Sedona Red Rock, 20:54.

8. Amber Miller, Scottsdale Prep, 20:57.

9. Claryn Josytewa, Hopi, 21:00.

10. Christen Ben, Hopi, 21:04.4.

11. Corrin Kalinich, Northland Prep, 21:04.9.

12. Tripper Tate, Monument Valley, 21:12.

13. Brianna Loughran, Tuba City, 21:17.

14. Haley Everroad, Scottsdale Prep, 21:46.

15. Julia Wagenfehr, Blue Ridge, 21:55.

16. Kaitlyn Billy, Hopi, 22:02.

17. Chamique Duboise, Window Rock, 22:05.

18. Chelsea Sheppard, Tuba City, 22:08.

19. Madison Babione, Scottsdale Prep, 22:10.2.

20. Petra Gee, Northland Prep, 22:10.5.

21. Brittnay Curley, Winslow, 22:11.

22. Hannah Smiley, Window Rock, 22:15.

23. Danah Smith, Greyhills, 22:19.

24. Gabriella Evans, Northland Prep, 22:20.

25. Sammie Cox Sedona Red Rock, 22:21.

26. Maddie Bean, Flagstaff, 22:24.

27. Grace Meyer, Flagstaff, 22:25.

28. Kristen Henderson, Tuba City, 22:30.

29. Shamiqua Nez, Ganado, 22:33.

30. Darshina Yazzie, Tuba City, 22:38.

31. Hannah Painter, Flagstaff, 22:39.

32. Catie Guinan, Flagstaff, 22:41.

33. Nizhoni Cly, Monument Valley, 22:47.

34. Carmilyn Pinal, Alchesay, 22:49.

35. Sonya Sahmea, Hopi, 22:52.

36. Danille Smiley, Window Rock, 22:53.4.

37. Miriam Deschine, Window Rock, 22:53.8.

38. Kandice Tanner, Tuba City, 22:56.

39. Faith Ranger, Pinon, 22:57.5.

40. Morgan Benton, Monument Valley, 22:57.9.

41. Tia Myers, Sedona Red Rock, 22:59.

42. Jennifer Lomayaktewa, Hopi, 23:00.

43. Quannah Ryan, Chinle, 23:02.

44. Marielle Debuerre, Scottsdale Prep, 23:03.2.

45. Rosio Aguiar, Chino Valley, 23:03.5.

46. Allison Johnson, Chinle, 23:05.

47. Mindi Lee, Ganado, 23:07.

48. Chelsea Claw, Ganado, 23:08.3.

49. Summer Yazzie, Tuba City, 23:08.6.

50. Janaya Day, Hopi, 23:15.

Chinle, meanwhile, got a 16th place performance from Ashton Mike (18:01) a 17th place finish from Darrin Cly and a 18th place showing from Michael Shirley (18:07).

"Ashton has really come along the last month," said Chinle coach George Muniz de Lucero, while adding that he had Darren Joey and Branden Bia run the open race, which is designated as a J.V. race.

Joey finished the same course in 17:36 while Bia crossed the finish line in 17:53, which unofficially would have placed the two runners in ninth and 14th place in the varsity race.

"They did a good job for us and they proved themselves today," Lucero said of Joey and Bia. "We have a good core of runners and right now I have the top 7 settled but we have to stay healthy."

In the team standings, Scottsdale Prep won the 16-team invite with 87 points while Hopi and Northland Prep both scored 109 points. The Bruins, however, took home second place honors base on their sixth runner.

The Bruins had two runners that made the top 10 with Claryn Josytewa (21:00) finishing ahead of Christen Ben (21:04) for ninth place.

With 124 points, Tuba City finish in fifth place with Brianna Loughran and Chelsea Sheppard leading the way. Loughran (21:17) placed 13th, five spots ahead of Sheppard (22:08).

"I was telling the girls that we should be no worst than fourth," Tuba City coach Arvis Myron said of this week's upcoming sectional meet.

Holbrook will once again host the sectional meet, which will start with the Division III boy's race at 11:00 am (MST). Following that race the Division III girls, the Division IV boys and Division IV girls races will take place with the top 50 percent of full teams qualifying for state, which will take place at the Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix on Nov. 9.